Cairns Cup, Round 7: Two wins, three leaders, and three missed chances

by Johannes Fischer
6/18/2025 – The Cairns Cup in Saint Louis remains exciting. With two rounds to go, Humpy Koneru, Carissa Yip, and Alice Lee are tied for the lead with 4.5 points out of 7. Trailing by just half a point are Harika Dronavalli and Alina Kashlinskaya. In round 7, Carissa Yip won a tactical skirmish against Humpy Koneru, while Alice Lee capitalized on Alina Kashlinskaya’s overly aggressive attacking play. The other three games ended in draws, but Harika Dronavalli (pictured), Nino Batsiashvili, and Nana Dzagnidze all missed promising opportunities. | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Saint Louis Chess Club
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After six rounds, Humpy Koneru was the sole leader, half a point ahead of the field. But in the top game of round 7, she lost a tactically complicated game to a well-prepared Carissa Yip.

Yip, Carissa24311–0Koneru, Humpy2543
Cairns Cup 2025
Saint Louis17.06.2025[Johannes Fischer]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.Re1 Nc5 7.Bxc6 dxc6 8.Nxe5 Be7 9.d4 Ne6 10.Be3 0-0 11.c4 f6 12.Nf3 Re8 13.Nc3 Nf8 14.Qb3 Carissa Yip was clearly well prepared, as she played this move - leading to very sharp lines - after just 8 seconds of thought. Bg4 The sharpest continuation. Black abandons the queenside in order to launch an attack on the kingside. 15.Qxb7 Bxf3 16.gxf3 Qd7 17.d5 Bd6
The first new move, but according to the computer, the best continuation. 18.Ne4 The first move Carissa Yip spent more time on. Be5 19.Qxc6 Qf5 20.Ng3 Qxf3 21.Bc5 Ng6 22.Re3 Qg4 23.d6 Qxc4?! This gives White a very strong and dangerous passed pawn on the d-file. A safer option was 23...cxd6 24.Bxd6 h5 25.Qd5+ Kh8 26.Bxe5 Nxe5 27.Qe4 Qxe4 28.Rxe4 leading to an endgame where Black is a pawn down but has enough counterplay. 24.d7 Red8 25.Rd1 Rab8 26.b3 Qg4
27.Rd4? The position is tactical and very complicated - ideal for computers. Engines mark this move as a mistake and recommend the typical computer line 27.Qd5+ Kh8 28.h3!? Qxh3 29.Ba7 Nf4 30.Qf3 Rb5 31.Qxf4! Rxd7 32.Qf3 with a winning position for White. 27...Ne7? Black returns the favor. The right move was 27...Bxd4 though one must then see that after 28.Re8+ Nf8 29.Bxf8 the surprising counter Objectively better is 29.Bxd4 Qg6 30.Re7 h5 with only a slight edge for White. 29...Bxf2+ is possible. After 30.Kg2 After 30.Kxf2 Rxd7! 31.Rxb8 Rd2+ White is mated. 30...Rxd7 31.Rxb8 Black has another surprising move: Ba7 with a win. 28.Bxe7 Bxd4 29.Qc4+ Kh8 30.Bxd8 Qd1+ 31.Qf1 Black resigned. After Qxf1+ 32.Nxf1 Bxe3 White wins with 33.Bxc7 1–0

Alice Lee, who had bounced back well from her round 6 loss to Bibisara Assaubayeva, scored the second win of the round.

Lee, Alice23891–0Kashlinskaya, Alina2459
Cairns Cup 2025
Saint Louis17.06.2025[Johannes Fischer]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Qe7 5.g3 Bxd2+ 6.Qxd2 Nc6 7.b3 Ne4 8.Qb2 f5 9.Bg2 0-0 10.Nc3 d6 11.d5 Nxc3 12.Qxc3 Nd8 13.dxe6 Nxe6 14.0-0 Bd7 15.Nd4 Nc5 16.Rad1 a5 17.Rfe1 f4 18.e4 Qe5 19.Qd2 Kh8 20.a3
20...Rf6? That's too direct. Better was 20...Bg4 for example 21.f3 Bd7 22.b4 axb4 23.axb4 Ne6 24.Ne2 g5 with a roughly equal position. 21.b4 axb4 22.axb4 Ne6 23.Nf3 Qh5 24.e5! Now Black's attacking hopes turn out to be an illusion, and White wins with this counterstrike in the center. Rff8 25.exd6 cxd6 26.Qxd6 Black cannot avoid material loss. fxg3 27.hxg3 Bc6 28.Re5 Qg4 29.Nh2 Qxc4 30.Qxe6 Qc2 31.Rf1 h6 32.Bxc6 bxc6 33.Rc5 Qb2 34.Rxc6 Qxb4 35.Qe5 Qd2 36.Rd6 Rae8 37.Qxg7+ 1–0

The other three games of the round all ended in draws, but could easily have ended differently.

Harika Dronavalli, for example, missed a good chance to pose potentially unsolvable problems for Assaubayeva in the endgame.

Harika, Dronavalli2483½–½Assaubayeva, Bibisara2509
Cairns Cup 2025
Saint Louis17.06.2025
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 c5 5.Nf3 cxd4 6.Nxd4 Nc6 7.Nc3 h5 8.Bf4 h4 9.Rc1 Nh5 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.Be3 Nf6 12.Bd4 Rb8 13.Qd2 Qa5 14.b3 Bb7 15.c5 Rd8 16.Ne4 Qxd2+ 17.Nxd2 Kf8 18.Nc4 Ne8 19.Rd1 Nc7 20.Bxg7+ Kxg7 21.b4 Nb5 22.Rd2 Ba8 23.0-0 d5 24.cxd6 exd6 25.Rc1 hxg3 26.hxg3 c5 27.Bxa8 Rxa8
28.Nxd6? Now the position simplifies into a draw. Better was 28.bxc5! dxc5 29.Ne5 Rac8 30.Rd7 with a clear advantage for White. 28...Nxd6 29.Rxd6 cxb4 30.Rd7 a5 31.Rcc7 Rhf8 32.Rb7 Rad8 33.Rxd8 Rxd8 34.Rb5 Rd2 35.Rxa5 Rxe2 36.Rb5 Rxa2 37.Rxb4 Ra6 38.Rc4 Ra2 39.Rb4 Ra6 40.Rc4 Ra2 41.Rb4 Ra6 ½–½

Nana Dzagnidze got a good position with Black against Mariya Muzychuk, but didn’t find the right follow-up and in the end had to be happy with a draw.

Muzychuk, Mariya2492½–½Dzagnidze, Nana2505
Cairns Cup 2025
Saint Louis17.06.2025
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Bb4 3.Nd5 Be7 4.g3 Nf6 5.Nxe7 Qxe7 6.Bg2 0-0 7.e4 Na6 8.d3 c6 9.Ne2 d5 10.exd5 cxd5 11.cxd5 Bf5 12.Nc3 Nb4 13.Ne4 Nfxd5 14.a3 Nc6 15.0-0 Rfd8 16.Be3 Nxe3 17.fxe3 Bxe4 18.Bxe4 Rd6 19.Rc1 Rad8 20.Rc3 g6 21.Qc2 Kg7 22.b4 R8d7 23.Rc5 Nd8 24.Qc3 f6 25.Rd1 Nf7 26.Rc8 Qe6 27.Rb8
27...Qa2? Up to this point, the game had gone very well for Nana Dzagnidze, but here she misses a good opportunity and gets into trouble instead. After 27...Ng5 White is in serious danger, e.g. 28.Bg2 e4 29.Qc8 Kh6 30.Rxb7 Rxb7 31.Qxb7 exd3 32.Qxa7 Qb3 and the d-pawn decides. 28.Rxb7 Rxb7 29.Bxb7 Rb6 30.Bg2 Ra6 31.Ra1 Qe2 32.d4 exd4 33.exd4 Re6 34.Rf1 Re3 35.Qc6 f5 36.Qc7 Rxa3 37.Bd5 Qe8 38.g4 Ra6 39.Qxf7+ Qxf7 40.Bxf7 Kxf7 41.gxf5 Rb6 42.Ra1 Rxb4 43.Rxa7+ Kf6 44.fxg6 hxg6 45.Ra6+ Kf5 46.d5 Rd4 47.d6 Ke6 48.d7+ Kf5 49.Ra7 Ke6 50.Ra6+ Kf5 51.Ra7 Ke6 52.Ra6+ Kf5 53.Ra7 Ke6 54.Ra6+ ½–½

Nino Batsiashvili also missed a good chance – in a complicated position against Tan Zhongyi, she brought the wrong rook into the attack.

Batsiashvili, Nino2462½–½Tan, Zhongyi2546
Cairns Cup 2025
Saint Louis17.06.2025[Johannes Fischer]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 Bb4 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 g5 8.Bg3 h5 9.Bd3 h4 10.Be5 Nbd7 11.f4 Nxe5 12.fxe5 Nd7 13.Qb3 Bxc3+ 14.Qxc3 Nb6 15.Ne2 Be6 16.0-0 Qe7 17.a4 a5 18.Bb5+ Kd8 19.Qc2 c6 20.Bd3 Kc7 21.Nc3 Raf8 22.b4 axb4 23.Nb5+ Kb8 24.Nd6 Nc8 25.Qc5 f6
26.Rfb1? The wrong rook. But it was hard to see whether it was better to put the a- or the f-rook to b1. After 26.Rab1 fxe5 27.Rxf8 Rxf8 28.Nxb7 Kxb7 After 28...Qxc5 29.Nxc5 White wins back the b-pawn and has good winning chances. 29.Qa5! White gets a decisive attack, e.g. Na7 30.Rxb4+ Ka8 31.Qb6 and Black lacks a rook on the back rank to stop the attack. 26...fxe5 27.Nxb7 Kxb7 28.Rxb4+ In this position, 28.Qa5? doesn't work, because after Na7 29.Rxb4+ Ka8 30.Rab1 Rb8 Black can defend successfully. 28...Kc7 29.Qa5+ Kd6 30.Qc5+ Kc7 31.Qa5+ Kd6 32.Qc5+ Kc7 33.Qa5+ ½–½

With two rounds to go, three players – Humpy Koneru, Carissa Yip, and Alice Lee – are tied for the lead with 4.5 points each. But Alina Kashlinskaya and Harika Dronavalli, who share fourth and fifth place with 4 out of 7, also still have a chance to win the tournament.

Results

Standings

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1.e4 4 e6 6 2.d4 19 d5 6 3.Nc3 6 Nf6 11 4.Bg5 22 dxe4 13 5.Nxe4 8 Nbd7 10 6.Nf3 1:22 h6 12 7.Nxf6+ 24 Nxf6 6 8.Be3 13 Bd6 36 9.Bd3 32 0-0 1:28 10.Qe2 21 b6 1:51 11.0-0-0 1:21 Bb7 1:01 12.Kb1 2:14 Nd5 12:21 13.c4 3:28 Nb4 7:24 14.Ka1 5:08 Nxd3 34 15.Rxd3 37 Qf6 7:30 16.Bd2 12:20 Rfd8 14:11 17.Bc3 7:50 Qf5 3:17 18.Rhd1 9:57 a5 3:20 19.h3 22:59 Ba6 5:28 20.g4 1:51 Qh7 4:44 21.Nd2 2:54 b5 1:38 22.d5 6:57 bxc4 9:50 23.Re3 11 exd5 17 24.Nf3 6 Bf8 6:57 25.g5 9:48 c5 2:35 26.g6 14 Qxg6 3:11 27.Ne5 4 Qf5 2:37 28.Ng4 6:10 d4 34 29.Rg1 45 Rd6 4:23 30.Rf3 4:13 Qd5 1 31.Rf6 1:01 dxc3 1:42 32.Nxh6+ 9 Kh7 11 33.Rxd6 1:52 Bxd6 4:52 34.Nxf7 21 cxb2+ 22 35.Kb1 4 Qf5+ 29 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Tan,Z2546Kashlinskaya,A24590–12025Cairns Cup 20251.1
Koneru,H2543Dzagnidze,N25051–02025Cairns Cup 20251.2
Assaubayeva,B2509Muzychuk,M24921–02025Cairns Cup 20251.3
Lee,A2389Batsiashvili,N24621–02025Cairns Cup 20251.4
Harika,D2483Yip,C24311–02025Cairns Cup 20251.5
Dzagnidze,N2505Assaubayeva,B25091–02025Cairns Cup 20252.1
Muzychuk,M2492Lee,A23890–12025Cairns Cup 20252.2
Kashlinskaya,A2459Yip,C2431½–½2025Cairns Cup 20252.3
Tan,Z2546Koneru,H2543½–½2025Cairns Cup 20252.4
Batsiashvili,N2462Harika,D2483½–½2025Cairns Cup 20252.5
Harika,D2483Muzychuk,M2492½–½2025Cairns Cup 20253.1
Yip,C2431Batsiashvili,N24621–02025Cairns Cup 20253.2
Lee,A2389Dzagnidze,N2505½–½2025Cairns Cup 20253.3
Assaubayeva,B2509Tan,Z2546½–½2025Cairns Cup 20253.4
Koneru,H2543Kashlinskaya,A2459½–½2025Cairns Cup 20253.5
Kashlinskaya,A2459Batsiashvili,N2462½–½2025Cairns Cup 20254.1
Koneru,H2543Assaubayeva,B25091–02025Cairns Cup 20254.2
Muzychuk,M2492Yip,C24311–02025Cairns Cup 20254.3
Dzagnidze,N2505Harika,D24830–12025Cairns Cup 20254.4
Tan,Z2546Lee,A2389½–½2025Cairns Cup 20254.5
Lee,A2389Koneru,H2543½–½2025Cairns Cup 20255.1
Yip,C2431Dzagnidze,N25051–02025Cairns Cup 20255.2
Harika,D2483Tan,Z2546½–½2025Cairns Cup 20255.3
Batsiashvili,N2462Muzychuk,M2492½–½2025Cairns Cup 20255.4
Assaubayeva,B2509Kashlinskaya,A2459½–½2025Cairns Cup 20255.5
Tan,Z2546Yip,C24310–12025Cairns Cup 20256.1
Assaubayeva,B2509Lee,A23891–02025Cairns Cup 20256.2
Koneru,H2543Harika,D24831–02025Cairns Cup 20256.3
Kashlinskaya,A2459Muzychuk,M24921–02025Cairns Cup 20256.4
Dzagnidze,N2505Batsiashvili,N24621–02025Cairns Cup 20256.5
Yip,C2431Koneru,H25431–02025Cairns Cup 20257.1
Batsiashvili,N2462Tan,Z2546½–½2025Cairns Cup 20257.2
Lee,A2389Kashlinskaya,A24591–02025Cairns Cup 20257.3
Harika,D2483Assaubayeva,B2509½–½2025Cairns Cup 20257.4
Muzychuk,M2492Dzagnidze,N2505½–½2025Cairns Cup 20257.5

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Topics: Cairns Cup 2025
Johannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".
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Cairns Cup, Round 6: Humpy Koneru takes the lead

6/17/2025 – After the rest day following Round 5, fighting spirit returned to the Cairns Cup in Saint Louis: all five games in Round 6 ended decisively. The new tournament leader is Humpy Koneru, who won an interesting theoretical battle against Harika Dronavalli. She now leads with 4.5 points out of 6, half a point ahead of Alina Kashlinskaya, who defeated Mariya Muzychuk. | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Saint Louis Chess Club
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Cairns Cup, Round 3: Fortune smiles on Carissa Yip

6/13/2025 – Carissa Yip, US Women's Champion in 2021, 2023 and 2024, had a disappointing start to the Cairns Cup, losing one game and drawing another. However, in round three, she secured her first victory against Nino Batsiashvili, albeit with a touch of luck. The other four games in the round ended in draws, leaving Alice Lee as the sole leader with 2.5/3. | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Saint Louis Chess Club
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